Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub

Yum, yum, yum, yum, YUM!!! This place is very yummy! Their seafood is outstanding, and their location is impeccable! Right on the water, and some tables are underneath a beautiful canopy of trees. For starters we got the tater tots, and stone crab. The crab was very good, but quite a lot of money for only three legs. The tater tots were delicious, and nothing like I have ever seen. It was kind of like a fried ball of mashed potatoes. Um, Yes Please! For lunch I got the Maryland crab cake sandwich, and it was outstanding! The crab cake was nice and moist. It was very flavorful, and had a nice soft bun. The scallops, and burgers were also amazing, as said by my party. Our waitress was very nice, and had a great attitude. I highly recommend coming here for some great seafood, and a beautiful view!

Derrick at Florida Dreams Realty of AMI, suggested we try Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant because we enjoy seafood and beautiful views. Well, Baybz and I were treated to absolutely delicious food, excellent service by Steve our cheerful and positive waiter, prices that were nearly wholesale and beautiful views along shore. If you like fish, get the tacos. They’ll make them with the fish of your choice and it’s cooked anyway you like!
We will be back
Neil and Baybz Wood

Dear reader: If you go to this place, do not, I repeat, NOT order their so-​called Linguini and clams:
Usually a treat, the chuckleheaded chef destroyed this delicacy by adding SAUSAGE and CHEESE! No, I am NOT kidding, it’s really true– but NEVER order it, just read the item’s description on the menu, something I failed to do.
Tasted as bad as you’d think, but what bothered me just as much was the portion size; Make a fist; that’s right, I said make a fist, dammit! Now look at it– THAT’S the total amount of linguini you’ll get when the goo is scraped off. And to charge $ 16.00 for this in hillbilly country? I left the place starving and angry. And it only hurt when I laugh.
For the first time in my life, however, I ordered tater tots in a restaurant, and they were actually very good.
Not sure if I’ll ever go back, but if I do, dear reader, and find out that YOU’VE ordered that dreadful linguini entrée, I’ll walk over to your table, and give the back of your head such a smack, you won’t know, aw, you get it.
«World’s WORST linguini & clams” — maybe they should put that on one of their T-​shirts?

It’s an upscale dive bar. Inside Patio is great !
AWSOME food ! (when in season stone crab claws are a must)
The staff are terrific. Always friendly & helpful.
Happy hour starts @ 4 pm weekdays

By far one of my favorite places to go.
Great food! Awesome view! If you are looking for that little hidden gem to fill your memories then this is the place. It’s new a new building about 100 years old. Has a greAt history and the food is awesome.

Took our boat and docked at their docks with our two dogs only to find out they don’t allow dogs! Not inside,(ok I get that) but not even in their outside seating area. AND not in the chairs they have (no tables) river front! Too bad because I like this place a lot– they have excellent tots and grouper, actually all their food is really good. Service is meh… But definitely don’t plan on bringing your canine companions

What we love most is dining al fresco under the trees that are strung with clear lights. With the bay view and a little moonlight, it makes a lovely date night. They don’t take reservations, so a table under the trees usually means a wait. The food is mostly just OK, not foodie quality; but we do very much enjoy the dungeness crab pot and we keep coming back to «our spot» whenever we’re in the area.

We had a wonderful lunch. I had the grouper sandwhich and NE clam chowder, my wife had the flounder sandwhich. Both were delicious and loaded with fish. Great French fries came with. Great outdoor setting and lots of seafood on the menu. We look forward to returning soon.

Phenomenal! We actually were going to another restaurant, the Lazy Lobster, rude from the get go, moving on. Went to the Mar Vista and it was one of the best experience of we have had. Ask for Becca, she is truly the bomb dot com. Informative is just one word i would say about her. Love Her! Go Sarasota, get you some!!!

Outdoor patio was beautiful! Great spot to watch the sunset. Shrimp in our steamer pot was overcooked/​dry but offset by the beautiful outdoor décor! Stone crabs were also delicious and juicy ! Service could have been better– I was cut by a stone crab and the restaurant wouldn’t give me a band-​aid due to «liability reasons». Not really believable nor acceptable practice.

Great hidden little gem! Fresh fish and a perfect setting! Fish tacos and Reuben were amazing!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of joining my friends for a 50^th birthday celebratory dinner at Mar Vista. There were 7 in our party and we wanted to sit under the beautiful lighted trees. Although there wasn’t a table large enough available, the hostess worked with us and we were seated. Our food was delicious, the atmosphere gorgeous! We were having a great time, when Chef Dave came out to great us. Upon discovering it was a 50^th birthday party, he inquired if chocolate was a favorite of the birthday girl. Another friend responded with, «Yes, and she likes to eat it with seven forks!» The picture I’m posting shows the amazing dessert he made for us. He came out two more times to personally check on us and give birthday congratulations! Thank you Chef Dave! You made a great night even more special and memorable! Amazing!!! If you haven’t yet enjoyed dinner at Mar Vista, you need to treat yourself! This was our second visit. It was even better than the last!

Great food and atmosphere! The stone crab was delicious! The two bartenders Becka and Ashley were friendly, fun and made the meal and drinks that much better! I think this might be my new go to place on LBK!

10/​28/​2015. Ok Fair is Fair. I wrote a review before that was harsh but well deserved. I’m writing one now that speaks of a better experience. I happened to be driving back down LBK the other night on my way home from Sarasota and I stopped with my girlfriend for a beer. It was a beautiful afternoon and we wanted to sit by the water. We stopped in and sat under the trees for about an hour, and enjoyed our beers. It was so pleasant that my gf talked me into ordering food. As I looked over the menu, I could tell right away that someone has been at work revamping the restaurant. We ordered the tuna fusion and the mar vista tater tots (an odd mix I agree). The tuna fusion was a great looking dish but we ended up sending it back because the tuna was fishy and overly chewy. The tots were fantastic however, and the thing that impressed me was our waitress saw it, identified the problem, and took it off the bill even though I asked her not to. Because of her great customer service we order two other dishes and I’m glad we did. They were both excellent! At the end of our visit my girlfriend leaned over to me be said we should make time to come here more regularly. I actually now agree! I hope they will continue this trend. I will come back again soon and make another updated review as to our dining experience.
One side note: I hope they keep with the theme and style of the old fish camp look. The new bathrooms although much needed are too modern looking. It just doesn’t fit with the old bar and fish camp look. I’m an islander who’s been coming since it was called The Pub. Trust me!

Great atmosphere for sitting outside for a dinner. We stopped here after a day on the beach. The staff is very nice and attentive.
Recommend trying the tator tot appetizer, different and delicious with a slight kick. Other recommendations are the fresh tuna and red snapper, grilled. The red sangria is also great for wine-​ing down the evening.

We came to Mar-​Vista Dockside Restaurant by boat. If you are coming by boat, then you should know they had very nice docks with bumpers. And unlike most restaurants, there were plenty of slips to tie up to.
It was very hot, so we chose to sit inside.
We started off with oysters and chicken wings. They are the biggest oysters I’ve had in a long time. They were really good. The wings were huge and also very tasty.
I ordered a specialty drink. It was expensive for the small size, but they are everywhere else too!
The rest of our meal was also excellent.
Our waitress’s name was Peggy. She was very nice and personable.
When we come back, we will sit outside and try the Mar-​Vista steamer pot. It looks amazing, but I was too hot to try it today.

The restaurant has a great location and ambiance. The food was just ok. I had a grouper Reuben and the portion was small didn’t have a lot of flavor. It needed more 1000 island or something. My husband got one of the specials, a blackjack flounder sandwich and it was a bit better. Overall, the three star A-​OK rating is spot on.

I couldn’t love this place more. The old bar, the covered deck and seating on the bay under the buttonwood trees. Beautiful setting. And the food? Pure Florida and always good. I combined a grouper sandwich with their Reuben and had a killer grouper Reuben. That locally made sauerkraut is unbelievable. I could eat it out of the jar. The grouper is the best around the islands. Dock your boat or come by car… Just make sure you get there sometime in your life.

This was our first time at Mar Vista tonight and… We were extremely happy with our decision to dine here. The outside ambience with the Bay view under the trees was spectacular. Service was excellent, Drew our server was outstanding. We were greeted immediately, drinks came very quickly along with amazing coconut pineapple bread. Followed by calamari appetizer recommended by our waitress. All of our entrées were excellent, and the peanut butter pie dessert was delicious. After finishing our meal, we took a nice walk on the pier right outside. We will be back.

The reason I’m giving 4 stars is mainly because the outdoor seating has an ambience that most places just don’t have. You can pull up by boat or car. They have a great dock that is nice just to walk on, especially at sunset. I had the snow crab pot, I really enjoyed it but it was a little pricy. My biggest contention with this restaurant is the prices. A little high in all honesty. The black flies were a pain in the ass but it may have been an issue just at that time of day… not sure. Worth stopping by at least to give it a try and pass your own judgment.